Turbine engines, and particularly gas or combustion turbine engines, are rotary engines that extract energy from a flow of combusted gases passing through the engine onto a multitude of turbine blades. Gas turbine engines have been used for land and nautical locomotion and power generation, but are most commonly used for aeronautical applications such as for aircraft, including helicopters. In aircraft, gas turbine engines are used for propulsion of the aircraft. In terrestrial applications, turbine engines are often used for power generation.
Gas turbine engines for aircraft are designed to operate at high temperatures to maximize engine efficiency, so cooling of certain engine components, such as the high pressure turbine and the low pressure turbine, may be necessary. Some engine components include film holes that supply a thin layer or film of cooling fluid on a hot surface of the engine component to protect the engine component from hot combustion gas. Typically, cooling is accomplished by ducting cooler air from the high and/or low pressure compressors to the engine components which require film cooling. The cooling air from the compressor is about 500° C. to 700° C. Although the compressor air is a high temperature, it is cooler relative to the air that passes through the combustion chamber, which may be around 1000° C. to 2000° C.